


The Afterwards

by smoothkriminal



Category: Not Another D&D Podcast (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Hardshine as endgame, Hardwon figuring out Home, IF JAKE WON'T RELEASE IT I WILL JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT UP, contingency letter, just trying to be soft and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25039144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoothkriminal/pseuds/smoothkriminal
Summary: Hardwon needs to adjust to having a space that is truly his own, and Moonshine is here to help!
Relationships: Moonshine Cybin/Hardwon Surefoot
Comments: 21
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This is my fist fic in the fandom, please be kind! I'm planning on continuing this, kudos/comments welcome on what you'd like to see!

Hardwon looks around Melf’s-- HIS stump. It was starting to look like a space that was feasibly his; something that is a completely novel feeling for him. In the Dwarfanage, he never had space of his own, just a bed that was too short for most of his life and a trunk that had the first pickaxe he broke and the stuffed Ore toy that all dwarfans received on their birthday. Looking around the stump, he sees the detritus he had collected over his journey with the Boobs: several empty Bud Heavies Balnor had stashed in the bag, the copy of Olfgar Goes Punch Bev had gifted him after the battle with Thiala, some assorted spores Moonshine had hid all over his stump since he moved in, and caches of almonds that Paw Paw had left over, a cracked red Solo cup that was finally removed from The Stormborn. Hardwon still isn’t used to the idea of a home and a space of his own and people folding him into their lives like he belonged- it’s strange and comforting and made his insides curdle with joy and just a touch of fear of disappointing them. 

There’s a distant call of “HEY COBB!” and Hardwon knows Moonshine will be walking through the door in a quick second. Ol’ Cobb’s low rumbled response is lost in the SLAM of a door as Moonshine bounds through the door, trailed by a possum that forgets how big it’s grown. Hardwon looks up from pouring crickwater into glasses and is struck by just how beautiful Moonshine is. 

“HARDWON! You’ll never guess what Mishka Beverly PawPaw III learned! Also, we gotta get them a nickname, we gave ‘em too long a name-- Mishkerpaw? Misverpawly? I’unno, we might wanna percolate on that a bit, they’re starting to get a real personality-- what’s going on, bud?”

His eyes sweep back up to her face, pausing on the crooked smile, moving up to her eyes and the crinkles at their corners. “Oh, nothing Moonie, just got lost in my own head. Trying to make this feel more like home, but it’s harder than I thought. Happy for the interruption!” Hardwon tries to hide any nerves in a vocal gruffness, but he’s pretty sure Moonshine sees through it. She usually manages to see the inner Hardwon hiding behind the Big Guy. 

“Hey PawPaw, git your dusty rump outside, we gotta do some decoratin’ and you’re just too big a titan to be in here with us.”

“Reeeer, reer reeeer.” PawPaw grumbled on his way out, planning on going back to Mishka Beverly PawPaw III and drumming up some more chaos for Cordone to clean up. 

“What’s goin’ on Hardwon? Is it too much all at once?” The concern on Moonshine’s face poured out, as if it was wounding her that he was slightly uncomfortable. He knew he could always count on her to make his house a home. “Melf left a lot of stuff for snake rearin’, which I don’t think you’ll need-- unless, is that somethin’ you’re interested in? There’s also bound to be a buncha fangs that were shed, we might wanna save those for Bev, just to add to his collection…”

As she moved through the house, Hardwon already felt more at ease than he had in weeks. While he had been moving through the space, Moonshine shaped the space around her-- from their time on the ship and everything else, she knew where he liked to keep the mug Beverly had made him, or where to hang his dad’s bitching hat. Accumulated garbage that had occupied the space inside Balnor’s bag became actual decorations in his stump; he could look around and see the memories he had made with the other Boobs.

Moonshine’s hair swings around the stump as she moves through the space and starts to create something out of the chaos. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moonshine gets to thinkin'.

Moonshine isn’t often scared. She’s seen too much to really let any one thing make her too nervous; besides, with her friends, they had come out on top of the challenges laid against them. But this is something different. Her feelings are too  **big** for what she is used to feeling, and it’s Hardwon. It’s always been Hardwon. He is someone who came into her life and dug in like a burr from a prickerbush and she never wanted to be rid of him. The idea of telling him… well, she wasn’t going to screw up their friendship over something so inconsequential as any romantic feelings. The first person outside the crick to ever truly come in and embrace every single aspect of its multitudinous nature.

With a mighty yowl, Mishka Beverly PawPaw II pukes up a ball of acid into the bucket Moonshine had set up for them to work on their aim. Looking back to Moonshine, Mishka’s neon green eyes narrow at her lack of attention and they blow an acid-cloud ring in her face to get her attention back to  _ how great they did _ . 

“ALRIGHT, damn, sorry I was drifting-- look at what a good job you did!! Li’l mishverpaw, you are just growin’ up so fast! You’re such a smart youngin’, the ground isn’t even sizzling with any extra acid,” Moonshine hopes her praise has sated Mishka-- damn, who knew dragons can be so touchy!

* * *

Later, Moonshine blows her bangs out of her face as she paces her stump. Typically, she would talk to Hardwon or Beverly when working out how she was feeling-- it felt wrong not talking with them about this, but it really would be too uncomfortable. As unfamiliar as she was with the concept of privacy, she wanted a bit more… distance, you could call it. She strengthens her resolve, and thinks on who to call.

“PEE PAW!” PawPaw looks up from his den in sleepy confusion, but is content to go back to sleep once he realizes Moonshine is looking for someone else. Moonshine briskly walks out of her stump to go over to Meemaw’s, where she is pretty sure Lucanus is staying for the moment. The University is out of session and he enjoys the sticky hot summers the crick is best at, not to mention rediscovering Jolene the Green. Outside Meemaw’s stump, Moonshine messages Lucanis, “Hey Pee paw, you got a minute? I could use some advice, and the night is perfect for a stroll.”

“Moonshi- oh, hello, yes, a stroll does sound lovely. Let me come right out,” comes his groggy response. A few moments later, a slightly rumpled Lucanus Aer’Tea walks out the front of Jolene’s stump to see his darling progeny looking vexed as she plays a blade of grass.

“Yes my daughter, do you have something on your mind?” Lucanus drawls as they start down the path, away from Jolene’s stump. The summer heat hangs heavy in the air while the nannerflies chase each other through the canopy’s deep shadows, their abdomens lighting up in alternating patterns.

“Well, pee paw, i’m in a bit of a stitch. I think I figured out somethin’, but I don’t know if… I don’t know if I can,” Moonshine continues, but gets more frazzled as she goes on. 

“Dear heart-- you have conquered actual gods. You can tell me anything, and I will not think any different of you,” Lucanus looks Moonshine over and sees nothing physically wrong with her, it seems to be something purely mental that she needed to overcome. 

“I’m scared. I think I love Hardwon, in the romantic sense. I know I love him in the other senses, he and Bev both know I love them. But I think that I love Hardwon far beyond that,” Moonshine worries her bottom lip as she starts, continuing to pace the well-trod path they walked. 

“Well that’s fantastic news! Why isn’t Hardwon here with you, I’d love to congratulate my new son-in-law, where-” 

“No no no, peepaw, I got no idea if he even thinks of me in that way. I don’t want to lay my feelings at his feet if he has no interest in me in that way,” Moonshine abruptly stops her pacing to stare down at her feet. The real crux of her dilemma came bubbling out of her now that she had been uncorked, and it all came rushing out. “I’m essentially a being that doesn’t have to think about death; I can’t imagine a life without Hardwon Surefoot. How can I even think about a life without Hardwon? Sure this is gonna be centuries down the line, but what if he can’t think about lovin’ anyone but Gemma? What if he …. what if I’m just not where he sees himself?” Moonshine seems to shrink smaller and smaller within herself in her uncertainty. 

Lucanus pulls her toward him, cradling her in his arms. “Moonshine, these are questions that I cannot answer. But you do know who has the actual answers-- he is the man who has fought alongside you into the very jaws of death. This is not someone who I think would turn you away for speaking your mind, and he is certainly not someone to turn you away outright.” Lucanus kisses the side of Moonshine’s head, getting a few stray spores in his mouth for his trouble. “I have not known you as anyone afraid to confront an issue. As I recall it, you quite literally beat down a door to yell at me before you ever even met me… and that door didn’t belong to any one of our party.”

Moonshine swallows wetly, stifling any tears that threatened escape at her father’s words. She blows her nose loudly in Lucanus’ fine trance-tunic and then steps out of the circle of his arms. 

“Thanks peepaw, I needed that pep talk. It’s certainly gonna change some things, but, well, hopefully not for the worse.” Taking a deep breath, Moonshine steels herself. This is nothing she hasn’t done before. And besides, it’s Hardwon. She’s seen him at his most vulnerable and still loves him with every fiber of her being. 

Lucanus smiles warmly at his progeny, glad to have assisted in something so fatherly, and to have done so with what seemed to be positive results (so far!). Sensing the conversation to be over, he turns around and attempts to subtly prestidigitate his tunic clean, but a few spores seem to evade the spell’s clutches as he sighs inwardly. 

“Take your time in choosing your words, there is no need to rush and declare anything at this moment. You quite literally have all the time in the world,” he chuckles to himself before walking back to Jolene’s stump. Moonshine chases after him and presses a quick kiss to the side of his head before walking back to her stump with a touch more confidence than she had earlier. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moonshine takes the plunge, and Hardwon gets some courage.

From the inside of his bedroom’s attached washroom, Hardwon hears Moonshine walk through the door and call out, “Hey Hardwon, I’m gonna make breakfast!” He smiles into the mirror and shouts down, “Alright Moonie, thanks! I’ll be down in a sec.” He stares at his reflection in the mirror, his beard having grown in significantly post-battle with Thiala. He is now able to get some of the more intricate braids he had learned at the dwarfanage, only able to master the knots and whorls after the Godshammer was reforged. 

Sliding down the ladder from the top floor of his stump, Hardwon was immediately hit with the scents of spice and pepper and that good good brown.

“Cheers Hardwon, I made some crawdads an’ grits!” Moonshine’s smile lights up the kitchen and Hardwon’s heart skips a beat when he sees her. Knowing that her smile is for him… that _he_ sparks the obvious joy across her face. It's almost more than he can bear. 

"Smells like you really outdid yourself, Moonshine; can't wait to get at that brown!" Hardwon inhales deeply and picks up the salty/spicy/earthy scents that are imprinted in his brain as "Moonshine." Well, usually there's more mushroom in there, but oddly, none were in this dish.

The two eat in companionable silence, their forks and knives filling the void between bites and small talk. Hardwon finishes eating and starts doing the dishes, something that had sprang up from their many shared campfires. Moonshine stares into her jar of crickwater, not sure how to move forward but knowing that she's ready to take the plunge.

"Hardwon, you know that I think the absolute world of you, don'cha? You were the first person I met who didn't immediately just dismiss the Crick and the people in it, and you made me feel comfortable enough to be _me_ around you. I-- you're my best friend and I love that about us, but I also. I realize now that I love _you_. Not just as a friend, or as someone who I've changed the world with, but you. In your entirety."

Hardwon tries to place the dishes in the sink, but his depth perception must be off, and he breaks all the plates in his hand. As if they mean nothing, he steps around the table where Moonshine is with her back to him and spins her chair around. Tears gather at the corner of her eyes as she gives him such a plaintive look.

"Now, this don't hafta change nothing if you don't reciprocate, I don't want you to feel obligated or anythin', it was just something I needed---"

"Moonie, wait, give me a second," Hardwon replies, casting his eyes around the stump looking for something. 

"Do you remember when we wrote our contingency letters?"

" ’course I do, we just read Balnor's a month or so ago," Moonshine eyes Hardwon as he scrabbles through a pile of trinkets and debris that seems like it was just pulled from the hold of the SS Stormborn and dropped into a cupboard in the stump. 

"AH! Got it!" He triumphantly lifts a rumpled envelope that seems lightly stained but mostly intact. 

"Well, my letter was for you. Uhmmm. I dictated most of it to Pawpaw, I wanted to keep it as clear as I could. Here, you should read it."

Moonshines hands, normally as steady as the Crick itself, tremble almost imperceptibly with anticipation as she grasps the letter and starts to read

> Moonshine, 
> 
> This is my first letter I've ever written, so don't hold it against me if it isn't that great. I mean, it would be tough to, since your probably only reeding this if I've dead. But I want you to know this: you are a love of my life. Phrasing very much intended. You are the freest spirit I have ever encountered, always ready to help someone out even if you only have a little. You possess a grace that compares to only Melora herself; you inspire everyone you meet. You even got PENDERGREENS to become a more better person. And you gave me a home; you made me realize a home isn't a place you live, or an identity you have. Home is the people you choose to share your life with; you and Bev and Balnor are my home. 
> 
> Now, I know you are not a "one true love" person, nor do I expect you to drop everything and pine me for the rest of your days. But I can only ask that you let me take up a corner of your heart, because you have set up shop in mine.
> 
> I hope I don't die, and I hope I get the courage to say this to you in person, but I love you. With all my being, body(s) and soul. 
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Hardwon
> 
> PS. Those drawings of Gemma aren't mine. And they seem like they might be focusing on the beard and dwarven form only because that might be all this unknown artist had ever seen. Maybe, I dunno, that's just the read I get from whoever this guy is.
> 
> PPS. Oh, right, tell Balnor and Bev I love them too. But also like, maybe don't show them the rest of this letter, I don't want them feeling left out


	4. epilogue

Moonshine’s eyes sting with unshed tears as she reads Hardwon’s contingency letter, although a few traitorous drops manage to eke out and soak through the paper.

“Hardwon-- do you really mean this?” A peculiar quiver hangs in her voice as she slowly lowers the paper and focuses on Hardwon shuffling in front of her. “I’m, well,” and she bursts into tears. 

“Woah, hey Mooney, it’s ok! We’re all ok, you’re ok.” Hardwon pulls Moonshine into his arms and pats her gently on the back. 

“But.... what if it’s not? What if I’m not?” Moonshine’s sobs start wracking her body as she loses her last thread of control. Hardwon continues rubbing small circles on her back, holding her up as she works through… this. There is a time and a place for everything, but this is the time to stand still and this seems to be the moment to exist in the embrace. The previous 15 months have been extraordinary, overwhelming, and more than they could bear in several cases. Hardwon does his best to delicately run his hand down the back of Moonshine’s head, careful not to dislodge any fungi hitching rides. Her braid goes past her shoulder blades, but the cotton candy texture fights to escape the plait.

“Well, it doesn’t need to be perfect. You don’t have to be perfect; you’re enough exactly as you are. You aren’t alone here, and you never have been. It’s weird, I guess I’ve come to think that it doesn’t matter if I’m ok as long as I can be not ok with you. I love you, and it seems like every day I just get more and more in love with you. I hope that’s ok with you.”

Moonshine looks up, sniffling indelicately, “Well, yeah, I guess that could be good.”

* * *

With her hand wrapped safely in between Hardwon’s calloused palms, Moonshine feels like she can release a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. After the battle with Thiala, all of Moonshine’s personal needs had been shelved. And that’s ok; the Band of Boobs wanted to make sure that their actions would have staying power. Less of a victory tour, more of an assessment of destruction and planning for a path forward. That work won't end anytime soon, but now? Now there's room for her to breathe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! this has been super rewarding to write and to read all your feedback, thank you all so so much! I wanted to just get out my ding dang feelings about these two idiots who are just pure sunshine and love. also, been trying to process a breakup this year and this helped, so, fml i guess lol.


End file.
